


Krum's New Ginger Biscuit

by KrysKrossZee



Series: Pet Project [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Healing, M/M, No Smut, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, POV Male Character, POV Third Person, Quidditch, implied sex in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:07:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24370300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrysKrossZee/pseuds/KrysKrossZee
Summary: Having recently split up with Hermione after two children and 25 years of being together, Ron attends a Quidditch match with his recently divorced sister. He doesn't expect to meet an old 'friend' there.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Viktor Krum/Ron Weasley
Series: Pet Project [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663804
Comments: 95
Kudos: 109





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I never expected to be writing for Ron Weasley, but I honestly think that he is now one of my favourite characters to write. 
> 
> Thank you to StoriesbyNessie for inspiring me, to SethWren for coming up with the premise and the title (and the graphic), and to R1ver_S0ng for betaing! I hope this lives up to the hype it's received in Hermione's Nook!

Ron sighed as he ruffled up the hair that Ginny had seemed to think that he needed to fix. Every day she was becoming more and more like their mother - well, if their mother was obsessed with Quidditch, that was. He knew that she was worried about him, but honestly? He’d never felt better. He had been with Hermione for over twenty-five years, but that didn’t mean that he was now going to let the fact that they had parted ways get in the way of him actually doing things that he enjoyed. He supposed in a way that confirmed that they weren’t meant for each other. He missed her, but not in the way that he expected to miss her. He missed her as a friend, as a co-parent, but he didn’t miss her as a lover.

Ginny didn’t seem to be coping as well with her own separation. He imagined that was why she was going overboard on the mothering thing - especially considering that two of her children had already fled the nest to travel overseas and the third had the same independent streak as both of her parents. He did his best to let her do whatever would make her feel better, which fortunately meant that he got to attend more Quidditch games with her while he steered clear of his best friend. 

He was mad at Harry, though for what particular reason he couldn’t be sure. It could have been to do with the fact that Harry had broken his little sister's heart, or could have been all because he had hated Malfoy even before he even knew who the guy was.

He got it, he supposed, that Harry couldn't control who he had feelings for. It just bugged him that it had taken him thirty-odd years to realise that those feelings existed in the first place. It meant that his sister got hurt in the process and it killed him to see her like this.

"Ready to go?" She asked as she turned to face him and Ron quickly dropped his hand from his hair. The last thing he needed was her to fix his hair once again. He looked much better with his thinning hair all mussed up, it was harder to see his bald spots that way.

"Yeah, sure." He gave her a smile as he took her arm and let her apparate them both to the game. Through her contacts, she'd managed to score them tickets to the Bulgaria versus Estonia match and while it might not have been a high profile match, Bulgaria was still one of the best teams in the world and other than the Canons, they were probably his favourite team. Everyone had assumed that his opinion about them would change after Krum had become such good friends with Hermione, but while he admitted to being petty, he wasn't that petty.

The stadium was busy, just the way that Ron liked places to be. They made him feel like he could get lost and escape from the intrusive thoughts that liked to plague him. He stood by the fact that he was over Hermione, but that didn't mean that he didn't miss her. He missed Harry too, and losing both of his lifelong best friends at the same time had taken its toll on him. He knew that they weren't actually lost, but talking to them about what was on his mind wasn't possible just then - not when they were the ones causing the problems.

He supposed he could talk to Neville, but he was usually busy with work and Ron didn't want to be a burden. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea how to start that conversation. Was he meant to just walk up to his friend and declare that he felt like shit? No, their relationship didn't really work that way.

So that was why he preferred to hide in crowds, to drown his thoughts in the buzz of their chattering voices. This was a definite bonus of going to Quidditch matches with his little sister. They both got something out of it, not to mention it meant that he could keep an eye on her without looking too obvious.

Ginny's contacts had meant that they got box seats with amazing views, something that Ron wasn't going to knock at all. The perks of knowing someone in Quidditch was plentiful. He stretched out on his seat and looked out over the pitch. The downside of being this high up was that he was now away from the hubbub of the other spectators, which meant in turn that there was nothing there to drown out the voices in his head that were determined to tell him that he was meant to be unhappy right about now.

He didn't want to listen to them, but it wasn't as if he had a lot of choice just then. The match itself wasn't due to start for a while yet and Ginny had vanished to go and do what she did best and network. Sometimes he hated how easily she could just talk to anyone about anything. He wanted to be like her, but he knew who he was, and he tried to let that be enough for the most part.

He pulled a packet of Bertie Botts out of his pocket. He'd been saving them for later but when the voices got too much, he more often than not found himself turning to food which gave him a lot of comfort. Other than his family, food had been the one constant in his life after all. He was lucky that he had such a good metabolism or he reckoned he'd have been the size of a house, or at least the size of a twelve year old Dudley - and somehow the latter sounded like a worse fate.

He'd just barely managed to erase the taste of an asparagus flavoured bean with a candyfloss one and almost an entire bottle of water when there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. Slowly Ron tilted his head back and almost spat out the water when he realised it wasn’t his little sister standing over him.

“Uh - hi?” He said as he swivelled in his seat so that he could face the man, someone he hadn’t seen since his niece’s funeral. Viktor Krum, someone he should have expected to be at a Bulgaria match, but also not someone he had expected to come face to face with.

“Hello.” Krum nodded at him and Ron couldn’t help but stare. Why was he here? Where was Ginny? Why had she left him alone with this… titan? “I can sit?” Krum gestured to the bench next to Ron and he remembered his mother’s words, ‘it’s rude to stare’.

“Oh, yeah, sure..” He said slowly as he steadied his heartbeat, his eyes now fixed on the pitch below them again. There had always been something about Krum that had made him feel... something.

He folded his hands in his lap in an attempt to get himself to stop nervously fidgeting with the cardboard box in his hands. He couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing than ripping the box open and having beans skidding all over a box as fancy as this. He didn’t know what he was nervous about though, if he was completely honest. It wasn’t as if Krum was a stranger to him, they’d know each other for almost thirty years - and he was totally over the boyhood crush he’d had on the seeker once upon a time.

He allowed himself to glance sideways at the man who was leaning back in his seat, his hands behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles as he rested his feet on the barrier in front of him. "Is this - are we in your box?" He stuttered out his question, mentally kicking himself for sounding so ridiculous.

"Yes. Ginny is good friend." Krum told him with a pointed nod and Ron found himself half-wishing that the Bulgarian would at least make eye contact with him when they spoke. He knew that many years ago that there had been bad blood between them, but surely Krum had had time to put that all behind him by now? Ron had, and now that he was no longer a silly teenage boy he could see that the whole jealousy thing was ridiculous.

"Well, thank you." He said after a moment before he looked away again, feeling just a little bit awkward and wondering if he should pretend that he needed a drink just to get away. He couldn't seem to make the words form on his lips however so instead they sat in relative silence for just that little longer.

It was Krum who broke the silence, which surprised Ron enough to make him jump. "You still love Mione?"

Ron's eyes shot wide and he turned to stare at Krum again. "Pardon?" He asked, his voice more of a yelp than anything else. Krum wasn't still pining after the mother of his children after all this time, surely? Though he supposed that now he and Hermione could reconnect if that was what Krum wanted. "No, we're no longer together." He managed to answer as he got his voice under control.

Krum just nodded in a way that made Ron feel more than a little uncomfortable. He sort of wanted to ask him to leave but as Krum had already pointed out, this was his box.

They were silent for a little longer in which Ron found himself checking his watch to see how long he'd have to sit like this before the game began and he silently cursed his sister. She'd brought him along and yet she didn't seem to want to actually spend any time with him.

"I am sorry to hear of split." Krum said after another moment of silence between the pair of them.

Ron just shrugged at that. "It was best for everyone." He said with a small shrug. He didn't regret it so he wasn't going to let anyone feel sorry for him.

"You are not sad?" Krum asked as he turned to face Ron who immediately felt so much better now that he had eye contact.

"No, I'm not sad." He told Krum as he actually managed a smile. "We're better as friends."

"Yes. Better as friends." Krum agreed, surprising Ron again with his response. How did Krum know what was best for him and his family? "I am better as Mione's friend as well."

Ron gave a light laugh at that. "Would it be awful if I said that I am glad to hear that?"

A smile flickered across Krum's lips. "No, not awful."

Ron met his gaze for a split second. His dark eyes seemed to see all the way through to Ron's soul in a way that made the ginger man's breath catch in his throat. He forced himself to look away just before a pair of hands landed on his shoulders, giving them a squeeze.

"You two having fun?" Ginny asked as she dropped onto the bench on the other side of Ron who was both glad that she had returned and kind of wishing that she would leave for a few minutes more both at the same time.

He nodded in answer to her question. "Sure." He said quietly, though neither he nor Krum had time to elaborate on that any - which was probably a good thing - before the crowds below them roared signalling the start of the match and the end of any conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulgaria won the Quidditch Match and Ron's been invited to the victory party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am totally in love with this pairing and the response that it has gotten so far.
> 
> Thank you again to SethWren and R1ver_S0ng for betaing!

The game was a particularly intense one that had Ron on the edge of his seat, and fortunately left little time for any conversation. Bulgaria caught the snitch in the end, only just winning them the match by ten points. Krum clapped him on the small of his back as he roared with the crowds and while Ron had jumped to his feet to cheer with everyone else, he all but froze at the touch.

He’d managed to ignore how close Krum was to him throughout the entire match, despite the fact that Krum dominated the very air space inside the box. But he couldn’t very well ignore Krum when he was physically touching him.

Ginny caught his eye, her head tilted to the side slightly. He was grateful that she was checking in with him, but he honestly didn’t know how he felt just then so he flashed her a small smile and a self-conscious shrug. She had enough to deal with anyway - she definitely didn’t need his confusion on top of all of her own problems.

He’d known for years that he wasn’t exactly straight. He had known back when he was at school if he was being completely honest with himself, but it hadn’t been a good idea to tell his first male crush that he fancied him at the time. Theo Nott was not the sort of person that he could just walk up to and confess his feelings to in the first place - which was perhaps one of the things that had attracted Ron to him in the first place. Not to mention the fact that the boy had been a Slytherin.

That stupid prejudice was all in the past now, or at least he was trying to leave it in the past where it belonged, especially now that his best friend was in a relationship with one of the people that he had been convinced that he hated. Ron knew that he had hated him once upon a time and he had been surprised when he realised that he no longer did. He liked to think that this was because he’d grown and matured as a person, because despite the fact that he was pretty annoyed with Malfoy (and Harry), he didn’t feel that he needed to hate him. Not anymore. 

His hesitance now was mainly because Krum intimidated him slightly. Okay,  _ alot,  _ if he was honest. Viktor Krum was his celebrity crush and he had somehow been lucky enough to meet him on multiple occasions now. Ron would be lying to himself if he said that it didn’t bother him that Hermione had dated his celebrity crush, even if it had been years ago. It was definitely weird that he and his previous partner had the same taste in men.

When Krum spoke, Ron just nodded, even though he had no idea what he was agreeing to. That is, until he left the box and Ginny burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over so much that she had to hold herself up on the back of a bench. She was going red in the face from laughing uncontrollably while Ron stood there and did his best impression of their mother placing his hands firmly on his hips and scowling at her, his blue eyes narrowed as he waited for her to stop.

“What?” He asked, an eyebrow raised as he all but glared at her. He would have asked precisely what had set her off, but her giggling got on his nerves, which were already more than a little twitchy after being in such close proximity to Viktor Krum for the duration of the match .

“Do you have to be so obvious?” Ginny managed finally, a giggle escaping despite her best efforts to control herself.

Ron blinked once, slowly. “Obvious?” He hummed as he grabbed his coat and slung it over his arm. “Obvious about what?”

“Oh, come off it.” Ginny rolled her eyes as she headed towards the stairs to make their descent. “You’re totally smitten with that man. It’s kinda cute.” She said as she shot him a grin over her shoulder.

“I am not!” Ron protested, though he realised that he was probably too loud to be believable when he was met with the stares of other members of the public. His ears turned pink as he followed Ginny down the stairs.

“How’d that song go again?" Ginny said, tossing her brother a wicked grin. "Viktor, I love yo-”

“Ginny, please.” Ron’s whole face was flushed by this point as he caught up to her and grabbed her arm.

“You’re allowed to fancy people, Ronald.” She pointed out as she turned to face him, apparently oblivious to the fact that they were now blocking the stairway. “Isn’t that what you keep telling me?” She asked, her voice a little more serious now and Ron knew that he had no choice but to agree with her .

He gave a small nod and an even smaller “yes” in response. He couldn't argue with his own logic, though this had nothing to do with his morals. He didn't have a sense of duty towards Hermione either. They'd had a mutual separation; they'd both decided that they should see other people. He supposed that he might have some small reservations considering the fact that they still lived together, but when he looked at the bigger picture, that wasn't what was holding him back. Not at all.

"Well, you'll have a chance to actually talk to him at the party." Ginny told him as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. She then took his hand and continued down the stairs, tugging her brother along behind her.

"Party?" Ron asked, his blue eyes wide as he took a couple of steps at once and almost tripped.

"The victory party that we were just invited to." Ginny replied with a laugh. "You truly are something else, Ron."

"Oh," was all that Ron managed to say as he tried to process that. How on earth was he going to survive a party with Viktor  _ bloody  _ Krum? 

Ron envied how easily Ginny was able to mingle with the Bulgarian team. He himself was far too caught up in his own head to even attempt to strike up a friendly conversation with any of the players, so he found himself hanging out with the buffet table. Why was it that food was the only consistent thing in his life?

With a sigh, he helped himself to some chicken and sat down in a secluded corner where he could survey the room. Krum had yet to make an appearance, which Ron found actually made him feel more anxious, even though the idea of actually talking to Krum was nervewracking in itself. He wanted to go home, which was a surprising revelation . Home without the kids around and the absence of their noisy chatter meant a lot of quiet, and while he liked to believe that he was strong enough to get through this on his own, he didn't think that he could actually bear it. He was used to coexisting with Hermione in the house, but it was definitely not the most pleasant of environments for him to be in at the moment.

He ate his chicken in silence, not particularly caring that he looked like he was creeping on someone. He supposed in a way he was, but it wasn't as if he was just there to wait for Krum to make an appearance. He was also there to keep an eye on his little sister - it didn't matter to him in the slightest that they were both now in their 40s and she was well past the stage of needing a babysitter. She was his sister, it was his job to look out for her, no matter how old she got.

He finished his chicken and was on his way to tell Ginny that he was ducking out when he felt the very air in the room change. He didn’t have to look to see what the cause of that change was; he knew immediately that Krum had arrived. No-one else seemed to notice the change though, which led Ron to conclude that there must be something truly wrong with him.

He managed to make himself take a calming breath before he turned to look for Krum. He hadn’t decided whether he should actually go and talk to him or not. Now he needed to make a decision, and preferably one that didn’t leave him standing there doing his best impression of a stupefied fish.

He watched Krum as he walked across the room while Ron remained frozen in place, his eyes glued to the Bulgarian. The worst part was that Krum seemed to be making a beeline straight for him. Ron felt his breath catch in his throat and he couldn’t seem to breathe normally. He swallowed nervously, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers as Krum stopped in front of him.

“You came.” Krum said with a broad smile on his face that only added to Ron's confusion.

“Yeah, I - thanks for inviting me.” He said awkwardly, as he managed to meet Krum's gaze. "Your party is - it's been great." It wasn't a complete lie; everyone else looked as though they were having fun and he had enjoyed his time courting the buffet table.

"You are leaving?" Krum asked slowly, his smile faltering ever so slightly and making Ron's stomach twist as he realised that on some level he had disappointed the Bulgarian, maybe even come across as a little rude.

"Uh, yeah. It's a bit odd me being here, don't you think?" Ron asked as he glanced over his shoulder in his sister's direction. Ginny was surrounded by half the Quidditch team by this point and Ron knew then that she likely wouldn't notice if he left.

"You are my guest." Krum said as Ron turned his full attention back to the man. "I am sorry I have not been the best host but I am here now."

Ron gave him a small smile. "Nah, you're good, really. I just.. I'm an old man. I'm set in my ways, just ask my kids." He chuckled. He was a little surprised to find that he had actually started to relax, feeling a little more at ease now than he had earlier.

“I am older than you.” Krum pointed out with a wry smile as Ron laughed.

“Well, yes. I suppose that’s true, but there’s just something about having two teenagers that really does age you.” He told him. His need to make a hasty exit was starting to die down now, but at the same time he still believed that he stuck out like a sore thumb when compared to all of Krum's fine friends.

Krum lifted an eyebrow slightly at that but then shrugged. “I do not have children.” He said after a moment. “I cannot relate.”

“No, I know.” Ron said quickly, shaking his head. “I think that’s my point?” He pursed his lips as he paused before he spoke again. “It’s not important anyway.”

Krum frowned in a way that Ron had to admit did age him. “I do not understand but I will take your word for it.” The Bulgarian broke eye contact as he glanced over to where Ginny had disappeared amidst the crowd of professional athletes. “Your sister is enjoying herself.”

Ron nodded. “Yeah, she’s in her element. She really loves Quidditch. Thank you for getting us tickets.”

“Ginny is a good friend.” Krum told him as he met Ron’s eyes again.

Ron blinked a couple of times. He hadn’t been aware that Krum and Ginny had any relationship outside of Quidditch, but he supposed that explained why his sister had seemed so insistent that Ron have a conversation with the Bulgarian in the first place. Did she know something that she wasn’t saying? He didn’t really have time to think about this for long before Krum spoke again.

“But I do not want to talk about your sister.”

Ron was fully aware that he was staring by this point, but he couldn’t seem to help it. 

“What do you want to talk about then?” He found himself asking before he could stop himself.

Krum let out a short laugh. “It does not matter. You have made it clear you don’t want to be here, but maybe I can ask you to meet me for coffee sometime?”

“Coffee?” Ron’s voice was basically a yelp but he coughed and cleared his throat. “Coffee would be nice, yeah.” His voice was still a bit high pitched but he couldn’t seem to shake that off as he realised that he had just been asked out on a date by a man that he had had a crush on since he was a teenager. He was living every middle-aged woman's fantasy.

Krum grinned and stepped forward to place a kiss to the redhead’s cheek which only made his face light up like a Christmas tree. He wasn’t usually one for public displays of affection, but he certainly wasn’t going to be the one to tell Krum that. “We can arrange a time. I’ll send an owl.”

Ron nodded quickly, probably too quickly, as he tried to get his blushing cheeks under control. “I… Thank you.” He said slowly as he struggled to find the right words.

Krum flashed him a smile and gave his arm a small squeeze. “I will see you soon.” He said before he walked off to join the group of Quidditch players, leaving Ron standing there in the middle of the room, just staring after him, utterly gobsmacked.

Slowly he managed to shake off the feeling of shock and took a deep, calming breath. His heart was hammering in his chest as he struggled to process what had just happened. He shook his head, reminding himself to get a grip, and after grabbing one more piece of chicken, he left the party with a smile slowly spreading across his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron finally goes on his coffee date with Krum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am totally overwhelmed at the response that this story has received. I've loved writing it so far (and I hammered out this chapter in a day!) and everyone who has read it has only had good things to say about it. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the support and I hope you enjoy this next installment!
> 
> Thanks again to R1ver_S0ng for betaing this - and for being one Ginger's Biscuit's biggest fans!

There was only one problem with Ron going on a coffee date with Krum - he didn’t actually like coffee. He was choosing to fixate on that particular detail, rather than the fact that he was actually going on a date with his celebrity crush. He didn’t think that he would be able to handle obsessing over the thought of dating the man, so instead he was choosing to read the menu for the coffee shop that he and Krum were meant to meet in.  
Ginny had told him over and over again just how cute she thought it was that he was acting like a teenage girl, and he’d only just about managed to resist the urge to hit her with a jellylegs jinx - and that was only because he knew that she would hex him first.  
Hermione had even caught him with the menu once or twice but while she had looked him up and down, she hadn’t asked about it. Ron considered that a blessing in disguise. While they were on friendly terms with each other, neither had dared mention anything about either of their newfound single lives since their official break up. It was safer that way for now, Ron had decided. They were both fully aware that he was the jealous type and while that was a part of himself that he had now accepted, it wasn’t a part of him that was conducive to keeping the peace in their shared household.  
When the day for the date itself came, Ron wished that the menu was the thing that he could focus on. Instead his brain had been stuck on what he was going to wear from the moment that he woke up. He made mistakes at both his jobs - fortunately that only meant that he misfiled paperwork in both places, not that he had accidentally cursed the wrong person while out on the field. His head was not in the right place at all; his nerves seemed to be taking over, to the point where he literally ran out of the shop at closing time.  
He apparated home once he had managed to calm his racing heart enough to feel safe. One particularly painful splinching as a young man had been more than enough and even thinking about it now made his arm ache. He was still unconsciously rubbing his arm while he stood in front of the mirror, trying on different shirts and hating each one more than the one before.   
He was trying his best not to look like a dad, but all his good shirts were presents from his children and definitely made him look as old as he felt, if not older. He knew that Krum had pointed out last time they had spoken that he was in fact the elder of the two, but that didn't mean that Ron wanted to look like an old man. He tossed his brown shirt to the side and in the end settled for a black t-shirt and a denim jacket. A small, disapproving voice in the back of his head tried to tell him that the denim jacket made him look like he was trying too hard, but he pushed the offending thought aside as he made his way down the stairs.  
He hadn't expected to come face to face with Hermione that evening, and so when he almost crashed into her in their shared hallway, he let out an overly dramatic gasp. Hermione just raised an eyebrow, her eyes roving over him from head to toe. Ron half wanted to know whether she thought that he looked presentable, but he also didn't want to have to go upstairs and change all over again. One glance at his watch told him that he had to leave in five minutes and he still needed to feed Harvey, his Jack Russell before his...date.  
"Where're you off to?" Hermione asked, showing no sign of continuing on her way up the stairs and leaving him to his separate life.  
"Uh. Coffee." He told her as he shoved his hand into his pocket so that he could fidget with the frayed lining.  
"You don't even like coffee." Hermione said matter-of-factly. Ron hated that she knew these little details about him, but it was a natural side effect of sharing so many years of his life with someone and he'd just have to accept that.   
"Yeah, I'm not gonna have coffee." Ron pointed out, rolling his eyes only slightly so that she (hopefully) wouldn't notice. "I gotta go though, so I'll see you later." He didn't really feel like answering any more questions. He knew that if Hermione knew who he was getting 'coffee' with one of her ex's, she would have a million questions and he'd lose his nerve.  
"Right, yeah. See you." She said slowly as she stepped aside and let him pass, though she seemed reluctant to do so.  
He knew that she wasn't as starved for human contact as he had been of late, so he didn't feel completely guilty, and it wasn't as if he was leaving her completely alone either. As much as she pretended not to like Harvey - who had been his post-break up gift to himself - he had seen them cuddled up together on more than one occasion. He gave her a smile before heading through to the kitchen where he called the pup to him. He did feel guilty for leaving his dog, but he couldn't let his life completely centre around his pet. Anymore at least. 

Ron's nerves grew even more twitchy when he stood waiting awkwardly outside the coffee shop. His palms kept sweating and he'd caught a glimpse of his reflection in a window, deciding that he looked way too old to even be going on dates in the first place. He supposed that it could be worse; he could have opted to wear one of the jumpers that his mother had knitted... lumpy maroon wool really accentuated his dad bod.  
He checked his watch again, wondering if Krum was late or if he was just early. Or maybe Krum was waiting inside for him... He frowned a little before looking in the window again. He shrugged slightly when he didn't see Krum and was just about to turn to lean on the wall when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
"Hello." Krum's voice was like honey; warm, sweet, and got stuck in his ears.  
He tried not to let himself blush (though he felt his cheeks warm despite himself) and gave Krum a smile as his eyes met the older man's. "Hi."  
There was a feeling of relief that passed through Ron on seeing him, and he realised that part of him hadn't actually expected Krum to turn up, and that was what he had been most nervous about: being stood up. Now that Krum was here, his anxieties about meeting up felt completely ridiculous.  
"Ready to go in?" Krum asked after a moment, in which Ron realised that he must have been staring. Ordinarily that would have made Ron feel a little uncomfortable, but today was not an ordinary day and Krum was not an ordinary man.  
Ron nodded with a "sure" and went to open the door to the coffee shop, only for Krum to beat him there and hold it open for him. He supposed that Krum must have been raised to be a gentleman, to hold doors and pull out chairs, but that was exactly how he had been raised as well. It was a gender role thing that Ron hadn't even considered before tonight, but a small voice reminded him that Percy had been raised the same way and he seemed to have a relationship that worked with Oliver.  
Krum nodded to a girl behind the till who flashed them both a smile, before he moved gracefully through a maze of chairs and tables, all the way to a booth at the back. Ron was more grateful than he cared to admit that the chairs were fixed and there wouldn't be a masculinity showdown over who needed to pull whose chair out. He took a seat and picked up the menu that he now knew from memory, but reading it and appearing to be normal was better than knowing exactly what he wanted, despite him never having been to this particular coffee shop before, right?  
He'd decided on the iced tea about two days ago while he'd been reading the menu in bed - he wasn't obsessed, he just couldn't sleep and didn't have a book on hand. Or so he told himself. There was a mango and passion fruit flavoured tea that had piqued his interest and definitely sounded better than any of the fancy schmancy coffees that took up an entire page of the menu for some reason. Ron hadn't even been aware that so many coffees even existed, yet here they were.  
They were both silent until a waitress came over to take their order, but it seemed that distraction was all that Ron needed in order to start a conversation.  
"So -" He didn't really know what he was going to say until the words actually started tumbling out of his mouth. "- what do you do now?" He'd been following Krum's career since he was twelve, maybe thirteen years old, but over the last decade or so Krum had mostly disappeared from the Quidditch world. He was still present at all of the Bulgarian team games, but as far as Ron was aware he didn't play or even coach for any team now.  
"Do?" Krum repeated, his head tilted to the side like an overgrown Bulgarian puppy . "You mean for a job?"  
Ron nodded. "Yeah." He was fully aware that he was making small talk but as far as he knew, that was part of dating, not to mention the fact that he was genuinely interested in what the man was up to now.  
"I do not really have a job." Krum admitted, though he said it in such an off-hand way that Ron realised that this wasn't a big deal for the Bulgarian. He realised that Krum probably didn't need to work as he would have made a lot of money when he was playing professionally, enough to set him up for life. "I have been pursuing my passions." Krum explained. "I play the flute and I have recently taken up painting."  
Ron couldn't help but be a little jealous of that. He had to work in order to pay the bills and feed his kids and dog. He had two jobs, but that was his own choice. He'd always wanted to work alongside Harry, so when they'd been allowed to train as aurors without finishing school, he'd jumped at the chance, but he'd also been needed to help keep the joke shop afloat in the beginning. George had been in no fit state to run the shop on his own then - not that he was now, but Ron had managed to take a backseat to the younger employees lately. He was mainly just there to keep on top of the paperwork nowadays.  
It was then that it sunk in that Krum had just admitted that he had basically quit Quidditch to play the flute, while he didn't want to laugh at that in case he offended him, he still found the thought pretty amusing. He managed to contain his laugh and smiled instead as he watched Krum for a moment.  
"It sounds as if you're enjoying yourself?" Ron asked, hoping that question didn't sound as weird as it felt, especially considering he was the tiniest bit envious of the fact that Krum seemed to only be do the things in life that he enjoyed.  
Krum nodded and proceeded to tell him all about a life that Ron could only describe as glamorous. He went to concerts, performed on stage himself, attended art exhibits, and hosted dinner parties - which was pretty much everything that Ron had been unable to do with his own adult life so far. He shrugged that off though because he honestly didn't regret his own life choices at all. He might not have been where he'd like to be - sharing a house with his ex was hardly ideal - but that didn't mean he regretted his choice of career or his children.  
The night seemed to get away from them as they sipped their drinks and chatted pleasantly about this and that, but eventually Ron noticed that the waitresses were starting to clear away the tables. He hadn't realised just how late it was until then, and now that he looked out the window, he saw that it was starting to get dark. Ron was reluctant to go home. He'd had such a good night just listening to Krum talk. It made him chuckle when he remembered that Hermione used to say that Krum never really talked much. The man had been talking his ear off all night! And Ron had loved every minute of it.  
Inevitably, they paid for their drinks and exited the coffee shop, though they lingered outside for a little longer. Ron counted it as a good sign that Krum didn't seem eager to leave any more than he did.  
"I - thanks for asking me out." Ron said eventually as they started walking down the street, though neither of them appeared to be going anywhere in particular.  
Krum gave a soft chuckle at that. "And thank you for saying yes. I would like to see you again. Perhaps for dinner?"  
Ron blinked a couple of times before he nodded. "I - yes. I would like that a lot."  
Krum had turned to face Ron now and had even taken his hand into his own, though Ron wasn't too sure when that had happened.  
"Thank you." Krum said before he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Ron's lips. "I will see you in a few days." He said quietly, a smile curving his lips as he pulled back and gave Ron's hand a squeeze before letting go.  
Ron watched as Krum turned on his heel and apparated. His head spun at the knowledge that he had just been kissed by the man that he had been crushing on for over three decades. His heart was pounding in his chest, but in a good way. He did however decide to walk for a little while to get his heart rate back to normal before he even considered apparating himself. Tonight had been everything that he could possibly ask for and more. So much more... 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron visits the Burrow and has a chat with his mother.

There was a definite skip in Ron’s step as he moved around the office the next day, one that prompted Harry to ask what he was so happy about, but Ron was not one to kiss and tell - even if the only person he had ever kissed previously was Hermione. No-one knew that though, not even Harry - who was someone that he usually told everything to. He had decided that he wasn’t going to tell Harry about his date or about Krum yet, not because he was still mad at his best friend (though he couldn’t deny that it was certainly a factor) but more so because he didn’t know where this new thing with Krum was going to lead to, or even if it was going to lead anywhere.  
He knew that there was the promise of a dinner to look forward to, and while he didn’t want to get his hopes up too high, he couldn’t help but get a little dizzy at the thought of seeing Krum again. His mind was definitely not on work that day, but he did everything that he could to get through his shift at the auror office. He had a mountain of paperwork that needed doing and unfortunately for him, Harry was his supervisor and was unlikely to cut him any slack, especially when he was keeping something from him.  
Their friendship was strained currently. Ron supposed it was something he should fix at some point, if only for the sake of their families. Things were tense enough between them, and his mother had even decided that she wasn't going to host the annual Burrow Christmas Dinner that year. This honestly broke Ron’s heart to hear, but after the complete and utter shambles of the previous Christmas, he could see where his mother was coming from. How well he remembered that last occasion, when Lucy had erupted in the middle of dinner. Ron hadn’t realised just how many secrets the Wotter family could hold until they had all come tumbling out.  
He’d been lucky that Lucy didn’t know any of his secrets, or if she did, then she hadn’t managed to get around to spilling them before she had been kicked out. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience for anyone and it had in fact been that particular dinner when he had first found out about Harry's relationship with Malfoy. It had been one of the weirdest dinners he'd ever endured, and he had to assume that it had not been the way that Harry intended to break the news.  
He didn’t need to work in the shop today, but that meant that he would have a full day at the office, buried in paperwork and drowning in the guilt that came from keeping something this important from his best friend. He knew that he was acting like a child, that they were both acting like children when they were in fact now middle-aged men, but he just couldn’t bring himself to share something this personal with Harry. Not yet. 

At quitting time, he went straight home, deciding that a quiet night curled up by the fire with Harvey was exactly what he needed so that he could process everything that had happened in the last week. It helped to know that Hermione was going to be out that evening as well. She’d said something that morning about going to visit Ginny, and while he thought it was a good thing that she was attempting to patch things up between herself and his sister, Ginny was one of the only people that he could talk to about things.  
Harvey was pleased to see him which was nice, so after they'd both had their dinner, Ron decided to take him on a long walk. The house he and Hermione owned together was technically within walking distance of The Burrow, but Ron couldn't remember when he had actually made that journey last. Harvey was far too excited when he realised where they were headed and Ron found that he was unable to turn around. It hadn't been his plan to go and visit his parents, but he supposed that an impromptu drop in wouldn't hurt.  
It would give him a chance to check in on his nephew James anyway. He hadn't seen much of him since James had graduated from Hogwarts. James had had a tough time of late. He'd gone travelling when he'd finished school, and while in Bulgaria his best friend had been murdered. James hadn't left the Burrow since the girl's funeral, which Ron could completely understand. When he'd lost Fred, he hadn't wanted to leave the house either.  
Once he managed to catch Harvey - who had somehow managed to wriggle out of his collar and proceeded to chase the gnomes around the yard for ten minutes - he let himself into his childhood home.  
"Hi Mum, Dad, Jamesie!" He called out as he moved through the house towards the kitchen, letting Harvey off his lead and watching to see which direction the dog ran off in. He wasn't particularly fussed if no-one wanted to come chat with him. He wasn't desperate to socialise anyway.  
He turned the wireless on to drown out the odd silence that filled the house, before making himself a cup of tea. He was sitting down at the kitchen table when he heard his mother shuffle in. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head as he pushed a mug towards her.  
"I didn't expect to see you." His mother said as she sat down opposite him, smiling as she curled her hands around the mug. "Is everything okay, dear?"  
"Hm?" Ron blinked a couple of times. "Oh. Yeah. Everything's fine. Harvey wanted a little wander and I think we went too far." He chuckled lightly. He was fully aware that the dog had probably found his nephew by this point and would be curled up on his lap fast asleep.  
"It's nice to see you, Ronnie." Molly said softly.  
Ron tried to ignore the pang of guilt that accompanied her words. He was here at least once every other week but sometimes that didn't seem like enough, especially not when she gave him that expression.   
"I'll come over for dinner this weekend." He ended up promising her, which he almost immediately regretted. He still didn't know when his date with Krum would be and he wasn't sure that he would be able to cope with both a date and a meal with his parents in the same weekend. He couldn't take that back though, not when it made his mother so happy.  
"I'd like that." She told him. "We'll invite Ginny as well."  
Ron bit back a sigh at that comment and decided he should be grateful that she wasn't also inviting George - bringing all three of her sad and lonely children together on the same day. Sure, Percy had divorced Audrey, but he was already engaged and settled with Oliver, so he didn't worry his mother like Ron and Ginny did.  
"Sounds good." He said vaguely, before he took a sip of his tea, mainly to stop himself from saying something that they both might regret later.  
Sometimes Ron couldn't help but wish that he was Charlie, the son that his mother never seemed to worry about when it came to his love life. Charlie didn't have a love life, or at least not one that he shared with his family, and quite honestly that sort of life appealed to Ron. But the problem with that was that he was the sort of person who shared everything with his nearest and dearest, especially the good things.  
"You seem... different today, Ron?" His mother mused after a few moments of comfortable silence. "Lighter."  
Ron gave a laugh as he patted his stomach. "Maybe I finally lost some weight." He joked, though they both knew that was not likely.  
He loved his food far too much and exercise was pretty low on his list of priorities currently. He'd kept pretty spry during his field days but now that he was pretty much a desk-Auror, it didn't matter so much. Part of him did think that he should consider getting into shape now that he was actually back on the dating scene, but he also didn't want to jump the gun.  
His mother just raised an eyebrow and gave him a smile. "I'm sure that's it."  
Ron knew that she didn't believe him, and that she knew that there was more to the story, but fortunately she didn't press him for the details that he wasn't ready to give her. If his second date went well, then he just might consider telling her, but until that point, he needed his privacy.

Ron was making his evening cup of cocoa when Hermione stumbled out of the fireplace. Harvey immediately bounded over to her and she almost fell over in her attempt to pet him as he danced around her legs. It was clear that she'd been drinking, but she deserved a night off every once in a while, so he wasn't going to say anything about it.  
"Ronald!" She exclaimed when she caught sight of him, her voice making him jump even though he had known she was there.  
"Good night?" He asked, an eyebrow slightly raised. He hadn't realised how late it was, but he supposed that once he got home from visiting his parents, he must have fallen asleep next to the fire for a bit because he hadn't really noticed just how late it was.  
"The best!" Hermione grinned as she flopped down onto the sofa and began removing her heels.  
Ron hummed softly as he studied her from where he stood with his mug of cocoa, just observing her for a moment. He liked to see her happy. Often when people found out that he still lived with his ex, they found it weird and would question whether he still had feelings for Hermione, but he could safely say that wasn't the case. He loved her, and that would never change, but the way that he loved her had well and truly evolved over the years.  
"I'm glad." He said softly as he watched her fumble with the buckles for a few moments before he decided to go and help.  
"You do seem glad." Hermione kicked her feet up onto his lap as he sat down. "Is that about your coffee date?" She asked him as he focused on undoing her heels, a blush creeping up over his ears.  
"How do you know it was a date?* He asked without looking at her. How was he meant to explain Krum to her?  
"I know you." She pointed out with a yawn as she curled up on the sofa, her shoes now discarded on the floor. "There's very little that you can hide from me."  
Ron had to admit that was true, she did know him better than anyone else did and probably ever would, but while he wasn't ashamed of his sexuality, it wasn't something that he had ever needed to talk openly about. He doubted that she was even aware that he wasn't exactly heterosexual - not that he'd ever put a label on himself in the first place. He just knew that he wasn't straight. Or maybe he was, just not when it came to Viktor bloody Krum.

"Okay, you got me." He admitted, a small smile flickering on his freckled face. "It was a date and it went well, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet."  
Ron was sure that Hermione would have replied had she not fallen asleep. He gave a soft laugh when he noticed and gently moved her legs off his lap, before grabbing the throw from the back of the sofa, and draping that over her.  
"Night, Mione." He said softly, watching as Harvey jumped up onto the sofa and snuggled into her arms in his place. He shook his head slightly before putting himself to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron has a conversation with Hermione before he goes on his second date with Krum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta ladyblackpotterpeveral and to all the people reading and apparently enjoying this beautiful pairing 💕

The days between the coffee date and the dinner date - that was set for Saturday night - seemed to drag out painfully. It wasn’t as if Ron didn’t have plenty of things that he could be doing, the paperwork at both the Auror office and the shop just loved to pile up and keep him busy, but he still found the waiting to be agonising. He found that he was filling his evenings by spending time with Hermione, which his ex-partner didn’t seem to mind one bit. He supposed that she was probably craving interaction outside of work as much as he was.

On Friday night, they ate dinner together, which was something that they had not done just the two of them since they had decided to end their relationship. They still ate together with the kids, but then Rose and Hugo acted as a good buffer between them and the awkwardness that often invited itself to a meal. Oftentimes, Ron would find himself asking why they still lived together. Their children were grown now after all. Rose was an adult and had moved out herself, and something told Ron that Hugo would be moving out when he left school, though he had never discussed his youngest child’s future with him. Ron liked to pretend that neither he nor Hermione had moved out because of their children, but the truth was that their children didn’t really need them to put on that front any more. Not to mention the fact that he did like to think that they were well-adjusted enough to deal with the fact that their parents no longer lived together if one of them did decide to move out in the near future. He couldn’t help but be a little competitive with Percy - so he wanted to believe that Hugo and Rose were handling his break up with Hermione better than Molly and the ticking-time bomb Lucy had handled Percy’s divorce from their mother.

In the end, Ron figured that the reason that he and Hermione still lived together after all this time was because both of them were actually too afraid to go it alone. They’d lived together for twenty-six years now - first at The Burrow, then they’d rented a tiny flat when they realised that they needed some space from his mother, before they’d finally had this house built for them. This was meant to be their permanent home; it was where Rose had taken her first steps and where Hugo had been born, a place of so many firsts.

Ron tried to ignore that lasts, but it was the home to so many of those as well. He let out a sigh as he gave the pasta one last stir before he flicked his wand, sending the pan off to drain itself before he turned to face his ex. She looked happier than she had in a while, despite the worries he knew that she must be facing - the same worries that were running through his own head. He was happier than he had been in a while as well though. He didn’t know how to explain it, though he knew that a lot of that had to do with the fact that he was now able to be himself with someone else.

“Hungry?” He asked Hermione. Despite looking happy, she did also look tired and a part of him - a part that he knew that he had inherited from his mother - wanted to look after him.

“Starved.” She told him with a small smile. She’d set the table in relative silence, the pair of them just moving around each other and co-existing in peace - or at least it was peaceful to Ron’s soul. “And that smells amazing.”

Ron gave her a smile before he dished up. He was the chef in the family. He’d learned a thing or two from his mother after all. Hermione on the other hand didn’t have the same sort of skills in the kitchen. They had discovered this when she had almost burned down their first flat trying to make herself some toast. It was amusing to him  _ now _ but he also figured that was another reason that she had yet to move out. There were only so many muggle-microwave meals and takeaways that a person could stomach.

They ate in silence, but it wasn’t the sort of silence that made him anxious - which a lot of silences often did. No, this silence was one that made him feel almost as if he were at home, which was something that their house hadn’t felt to him in a while. He wanted to think that was progress.

Towards the end of their meal, however, Hermione decided to break the silence with a question that made his anxiety start to climb again, though if you’d asked him why he wouldn’t have been able to tell you. She was his friend, as well as his ex, and he was in no position to turn (anymore) friends away.

“Are you dating a man, Ron?”

Ron almost choked on his pasta. His eyes were watering as he set his fork down and slowly sat up in his chair as he tried to regroup. He wanted to tell her the whole truth, but he didn’t exactly know how to do that.

“Uh. I’m not sure I would call it dating as of yet. We’ve had coffee and we’re having dinner tomorrow night.” It sounded innocent enough when he put it like that, not to mention the fact that he really didn’t want to put a label on something that was so new.

Hermione’s eyes widened slightly before she slowly managed to make herself blink again. “So...you are? You’re seeing a man?”

Ron gave a slight nod before he realised that she was probably starting to feel as crappy as Ginny did. “Yes, but I’m not gay, Mione. And just because I’m… seeing a man now doesn’t mean that I didn’t love you.” He wanted to reassure her but at the same time, he couldn’t take responsibility for her ego.

Hermione mirrored his nod and he tried to ignore the pang in his chest when she looked down at her plate. Sure, he might not have been completely honest about who he was or how he felt over the years towards other people but he had never once lied about his feelings towards Hermione. There had been a time when it had felt like she was the very fire in his heart - but like all fires, that couldn’t burn forever.

“You’re still extra special to me, Mione.” He said softly as he flashed her a small smile before he turned back to his pasta. That wasn’t a lie. She was still one of his favourite people in his life and that wasn’t going to change any time soon.

They fell back into silence as they finished their meal before Ron cleared everything up. Even though it seemed like their already strained relationship had just taken a step back, three steps forward, one step back, still meant two steps forward in the end.

Hermione let him rinse the dishes in the sink before she spoke again. "How long have you been…?" She asked and when Ron glanced over his shoulder at her he could see her gesturing vaguely.

"Not straight?" He asked, an eyebrow raised slightly as he realised that the conversation that he thought was over was in fact just being left for a few moments so that his ex could fully digest all of the information. "I dunno, all my life?" He said with a shrug as he turned to face her again, his arms folding over his chest. "It's just never needed to be a big deal. Like I said, I did love you. I  _ do _ love you - but the way I love you now is different to before."

Hermione had gone a little pink in the face now and he wished, as he had done on so many occasions, that he could open her head up to see inside and see the thoughts that were swirling around inside. He'd never met someone with as busy a mind as she had before. Their children seemed to have busy minds as well but not quite as busy as hers.

"You - uh - okay." She said quietly as she moved to push her chair in at the table. "Thank you for…" She trailed off as if she didn't actually know what she was thanking him for and Ron found that he was grateful for that. He wasn't sure that he could take whatever gratitude she had to offer him just then.

Instead he just moved to kiss her cheek before going to get Harvey's lead, deciding that a bit of fresh air would do him some good and it was time for the dog's evening walk anyway.

Dinner with Krum had been amazing. They'd gone for steaks in the end and Ron's had been melt in the mouth perfection, but what he had really loved was being able to spend more time with the man that he was growing particularly fond of. They talked all evening, which was a pleasant contrast to the meal he had shared with Hermione the evening before. They talked about everything from Krum's music to Ron's current situation with Harry. Krum of course urged Ron to forgive Harry, reminding him that they had both loved and lost so many times in their lives. Ron had to admit that everything he said made complete sense, but his pride was still determined to get in the way whether he liked it or not.

He managed to move the conversation on to other things, things that didn't make him feel as though he was a complete and utter failure of a human being, such as Rose and Hugo, and Harvey. His phone had to come out when he started talking about his dog. Krum had been fascinated by the muggle device that Hermione had insisted that he buy when the children got one - apparently it was ‘so much easier’ to use than the Floo Network or a patronus, but honestly all that Ron used his phone for was to take pictures of his dog so he wasn’t really able to explain to Krum how it even worked. A small voice in the back of head said that his father would be able to tell him all about it, but that would actually mean introducing Krum to his parents and that was something that he definitely was not ready for yet. It was one thing to tell Hermione about his sexuality but it was an entirely different thing to sit your parents down.

He knew that they wouldn’t have a problem with it - the only reason that his mother had gotten annoyed with Percy about his relationship with Oliver was because he had deemed it appropriate to hide the entire relationship from his entire family. Ron didn’t want to fall down that hole, but he also wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Krum until he was sure what this relationship was.

It seemed to be that a promising relationship was starting to blossom though as over dessert Krum was already starting to talk about where they could go on their third date. Ron internally squealed, something that he made sure not to do audibly. He didn’t want to have to explain that one to Krum or to the people sitting at the tables around them.

They decided on Krum cooking them a meal at his London flat. The idea of them being in such a private setting sent tingles through Ron’s entire body. He didn’t know if he was ready for that sort of intimacy, but he sure as hell wanted to be.

As it was, Ron walked Krum back to his flat that evening. They walked unashamedly hand-in-hand through the streets of London. It might have been such a small thing in a city as diverse as the capital, but it still felt like such a big step for Ron. He didn’t know whether it made it easier or harder for him that the streets were this busy, but he kept his fingers clasped around Krum’s hand all the same.

“Did you want to come in for coffee?” Krum asked when they reached his flat.

Ron hesitated for a moment as they stood there on the steps. It would have been so easy to say ‘yes’ but he couldn’t seem to make that word form in his lips. He so badly wanted to go inside and see where coffee led to, but he knew that he probably needed to respect the boundaries he had set for himself. “Not tonight.” He said quietly, hating himself the moment he gave his reply. There would be enough time to see where coffee led to during their third date anyway.

Krum gave a nod which Ron hoped meant that he understood where Ron was coming from but before he could give a verbal reply, Ron found that he was leaning forward to press a kiss to the man’s lips. He’d never instigated a kiss with another man before and he could feel himself practically vibrating with another squeal that he had to hold back, especially as Krum wrapped his arms around him and drew him close.

He was being kissed by Krum rather passionately and he found that he was definitely regretting not saying ‘yes’ to coffee now but after a few moments he made himself pull back. His gaze met Krum’s as the older man laid his hand on Ron’s cheek. Part of him wanted to ask what Krum saw in him that he could even stand to look at him, let alone like that, when he was pretty sure that Krum could have pretty much any person on the planet that he set his sights on, but he decided to keep that to himself.

“Goodnight, Ron. I will see you later in the week.” He said softly before he placed the gentlest of kisses to the middle of Ron’s forehead. He then removed his hand from Ron’s cheek before he turned to head up the steps into his flat.

Ron was left there in the street. He managed a “goodnight” but he wasn’t sure that Krum had actually heard him. He forced himself to take a deep breath - he was pretty sure he had stopped breathing entirely when Krum had kissed his head - and then after another moment or two of managing to pull himself together, he managed to walk away, looking for somewhere that he could safely apparate from. He was glad of the walk as it gave him time to steady his heartbeat. He didn’t know what exactly it was about Krum that made his heart want to explode whenever they were close, but there was definitely something.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron is confronted by Harry after he reads The Daily Prophet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do!
> 
> Thanks to my betas SethWren and ladyblackpotterpeveral

Ron jumped as something was slammed down on the desk in front of him. He'd been hyper focused on the paperwork that had somehow piled up over the weekend that he hadn't really noticed someone entering his office so he did in fact jump at this. Slowly he looked up to see Harry standing in front of him, his hands on his hips in a way that reminded him of his mother.

"What's this?" He asked as he picked up the newspaper that his best friend had practically thrown at him.

"Like you don't know." Harry's voice resembled a hiss, prompting Ron to turn the newspaper so that he could read the headline.

The words 'Krum's New Ginger Biscuit' were written on the page in front of him and he felt his heart stop for a moment before it restarted with a jolt. How could The Daily Prophet know about him and Krum? Had someone seen them together the other night?

“So?” Harry snatched the paper from Ron though Ron had a feeling that Harry wanted to whack him around the head with said paper. “Why the bloody hell didn’t you tell me that you’re gay?”

Ron raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked up at his best friend. It wasn’t anger that was written across his face, but hurt, and that made Ron’s heart twinge just that little bit. “I’m not gay, Harry.” He told him with a small sigh. “And by that, I don’t mean that I’m in denial or anything like that.”

“And the article?” Harry asked slowly as he dropped down onto the seat across from Ron, seemingly deflated for the time being which Ron figured was both a good and bad thing. “Draco doesn’t allow for idle gossip to be published.”

Ron tried his very best to hold back a shudder as Harry used Malfoy’s first name. It didn’t sound right, not at all. It took him a moment to form words as he recovered from that one, but he did manage to say “It’s not idle gossip. I was on a date with Krum.”

“You… and Krum…” Harry repeated as if he was trying to wrap his head around the idea. It didn’t seem to be sinking in though and Ron was wondering if he should go and make Harry a very sweet tea.

“Yes. Me and Krum. I met him again at a match a week or so back.” He told Harry. He was a little surprised at just how easily he was able to tell him all of this, but he supposed that there was a reason that Harry was his best friend - other than the fact they only really had each other during those first few weeks at Hogwarts and that had helped them to form a bond that was irreplaceable. “Saturday was date number two and well… There will be a third date.”

Harry just nodded and dropped his eyes down to the picture of Ron and Krum that was on the front cover of the paper - that alone was enough to surprise Ron, was it really that much of a slow news day that he was front page news?

“You look happy.” Harry said after a few seconds of silence during which Ron had actually gotten up to go and make them both a cup of tea. He was still mad at Harry for a number of things, but part of him was telling him that they both could use a friend, someone to talk to.

“Yeah. I like him.” Ron couldn’t hide the smile that fixed itself on his lips. “I’ve had a crush on Krum since - well since I can remember really. He was maybe even my first crush?” He hummed, shrugging that off slightly before he heard Harry laugh from behind him.

“All that time we thought you were jealous of Hermione?” He asked as Ron turned to face him, his arms crossing over his chest. He didn’t want to get defensive, but he couldn’t help that it was his natural stance.

“Uh, yeah. There’s a chance that it was nothing to do with Hermione at all.” He admitted, his ears starting to turn pink as he thought back to how badly fourteen year old him had handled puberty and hormones. “But like I told Hermione the other night, there was a time that I did think about her like that, but that time’s past now.”

“Does she know about Krum?” Harry’s eyes widened slightly and there was that look of hurt that flickered across his features all over again so Ron made himself turn back to the tea.

“Uh, no. Not exactly. She knows I went on a date with someone, but not...not with who.” Ron admitted as he busied himself with the tea again. He paused for a moment as he wondered whether his ex would have read the paper that morning or if someone in her office would have told her about it. “I guess it’s all out in the open now.” He added with a groan.

All those years ago he had complained about how much attention Harry had received. He’d been jealous of the fame that his best friends had both received when Rita Skeeter had featured them in her articles, but now that it was his turn in the spotlight, he certainly didn’t want it. Hermione didn’t deserve to hear that he was dating her ex this way and his kids definitely didn’t deserve for them to find out their father wasn’t exactly straight by having their friends gossip about it. He had some serious damage control to do.

He handed Harry one of the cups of tea as he sat back down behind his desk with a sigh. He could only be grateful that he hadn’t been outed the same way that Percy and Harry both had to the entire family at Christmas Dinner just a few months ago.

“I’ll send word to Ji. I’m sure he and Fred can handle things there for a few hours so I can go and talk to her.” He said quietly. There’d be another mountain of paperwork waiting for him at the shop that they all knew that George was not up to facing, but that would just have to wait for Tuesday. There was no way he would be able to take it home with him now. He needed to give both his kids a floo call, which hopefully they would take so that he would have the chance to explain himself. He’d hoped that he would have at least been able to wait until he met with Rose in person, or even for Hugo to finish school, but that obviously that wasn’t the case.

Harry let out a sigh that Ron realised said more than either of them were prepared to say just then. They might have opened the channel of communication but that didn't mean that communication between them was going to be easy. Sure, Ron needed to do his part and push his grievances with Malfoy to the side. They were adults now and he needed to remind himself of that. He'd already managed to accept two Malfoys into the family after all, but Draco Malfoy? The boy who had tormented him for most of his school life? That was going to take a little bit of work on his part.

He wasn't sure that he could put all of that behind him when he was still mad at Harry for breaking his baby sister's heart in the first place though. He understood the whole 'the heart wants what the heart wants' thing, but he couldn't just outright forgive the sneaking around that had gone on behind Ginny's back. He hadn't enjoyed seeing what all the secrets and lies had done to Ginny or what it had done to his sister's confidence.

"I miss you." Harry said quietly when Ron had been silent for a while.

Ron hadn't known what to say and he certainly didn't now either. He did miss Harry but it wasn't as if they could just pretend that the last year hadn't happened.

He settled for "I miss you too" in the end. It wasn't a lie. You couldn't be that close to someone without missing them.

"Can we… Can we go for drinks or something at some point?" Harry asked slowly, his voice wavering as if he was realising that it was a bad idea half way through. "Just me and you, I mean. Not with…" He trailed off as Ron nodded.

"Yeah. Okay." He didn't know why he was agreeing, especially when he knew that there was a large chance that that particular evening was going to be as awkward as this meeting was, but part of him knew that he had to at least try.

"Thank you." Harry gave him a small smile before he stood up. "And - uh - thank you for the tea." He added before he left Ron's office.

Ron tentatively knocked on Hermione's office door. He knew that there was no chance that the Minister for Magic had stayed in her office for the whole morning unless she had been absolutely swamped with paperwork, but even then she would have had people invading her office. She was always complaining about how many people were disturbing her while she was working. Still, he hung onto the small hope that no-one had told her about that day's headline as he waited to be invited in.

Back when they were still together he wouldn't have even thought twice about going in and interrupting her no matter if she was in a meeting or not, but now he exercised some restraint. They weren't together and she would be well within her right to throw something across the room at him, especially today.

"Come in." He heard her voice call from the other side of the heavyset door. She sounded frustrated, which was not a good sign but he managed to take a deep breath before he let himself in.

"Hi. You got five minutes?" He asked slowly. He knew that this conversation might take longer than five minutes but if she didn't know about his date with Krum then he wanted to be able to explain properly and if she did know about him then he wanted to at least get his foot in the door so that he could get her to understand why he hadn't been able to tell her who his date the other night was.

"Can we skip it?" Hermione asked without even bothering to look up from the stack of papers in front of her.

"Skip what?" Ron asked slowly, frowning slightly. He didn't move from the doorway. He didn't exactly feel welcome just then but that was to be expected.

"The condescending speech in which you pretend to have been sparing my feelings when you wouldn't tell me who you're seeing." Hermione said with a sigh that. "It's fine, okay? You can leave."

"Is that an order or a suggestion?" Ron wanted to know how much he could push this. Fortunately she was in the workplace so she wouldn't be able to completely lose her temper with him.

"Ron, please." Her voice cracked a little in the middle but she finally looked up at him. There was the hurt in her gaze, the one that he had wanted to avoid causing her. It had never been his intention. "I get it, okay? I know why you didn't tell me about Viktor. I understand."

Ron nodded slightly. It wasn't a question of whether she understood or not, but at least he didn't need to fully explain himself. He still didn't leave though. He couldn't make himself do that. She was still a big part of his life and he had to make sure that he was okay.

"It wasn't my intention to keep it a secret from you, Mione. It's just...all new to me. I wanted to be sure that there was actually something to tell people before I told anyone, but that was taken from me." He said quietly, finding that he had to explain himself anyway.

"Why him, Ron? Out of everyone in the entire world, why did you have to pick someone I had a relationship with?" Hermione asked, her eyes now locked on his.

"I didn't… I didn't plan it. Ginny reintroduced us and we… He asked me out - twice." Ron paused for a moment. "I'm not going to offer to stop seeing him." He added before he took a deep breath. "I really like him."

Hermione was silent for a moment before she gave a short nod. "Yeah. I can tell." She let out a sigh before she got up from behind her desk. "He makes you happy and you have no idea how much I have missed seeing you happy."

Ron glanced down at his feet for a moment. He hadn't realised that his unhappiness had been that obvious, though he supposed that it had put a lot of strain on their relationship when they had still been trying to make things work.

Hermione's hand was on his cheek then, gently asking him to look up again and meet her gaze. He let her guide him and saw that she was in fact smiling ever so slightly. "You're allowed to be happy, Ron. I'm happy."

Ron blinked a couple of times before he managed to give her a small smile. "Just as long as you're not too mad at me." He said softly which earned him a laugh.

"Would I be me if I wasn't mad at you for something, Ron?" She asked before she moved to press a kiss to his cheek. "Now you better go do some damage control with your mother before she sends someone to kick your ass."

Ron let out a groan. He hadn't even considered that his mum might read the Daily Prophet and see what exactly it was that he hadn't told her when he was over there just yesterday. "Ugh. I'm so dead. I'll see you at home." He told her before he left her office, deciding that he better just floo straight over to the Burrow. His mum would not be happy that he hadn't just come out and told her about Krum either.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron talks to his son and his mum about The Daily Prophet article

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adored writing these interactions. They made me tear up in parts.
> 
> Thank you to SethWren and ladyblackpotterpeveral for betaing!

"What the hell, Dad?" Hugo sounded less than impressed with his dad's news, or he supposed it could have been more to do with the fact that he had overheard the news from one of his friends.

Ron had already spoken to Rose earlier, who hadn't really seemed to care too much, but he could tell that she was a bit peeved that he hadn't told her himself. He'd explained to his oldest child that he had wanted to make sure that the relationship was serious before he told anyone about it, but he could see why his children might be a little upset, especially after they'd seen everything that Harry and Ginny had been through. Albus and Lily had been seemingly unaffected, and James had his head firmly elsewhere, but Ron and Hermione had always been open with their children.

They'd never married, which made it somewhat easier to split up, even if they had been living together long enough to be classified as a common law marriage. It was no secret that they hadn't been happy for a while, and by the end even Rose and Hugo were aware that the only reason that they were still together was because of them. In the end, Hugo had told them that they should see other people and neither of them could even reprimand him for that because he was absolutely right.

As far as Ron was aware, Hermione had yet to actually start seeing other people though, unless you counted her job which he was sure that Hermione actually did.

"You weren't meant to find out like this." Ron told Hugo as he adjusted his position in front of the fireplace. He was getting far too old to be sat on the floor for floocalls but unfortunately Hogwarts still repelled technology so it wasn't as if he could just use that stupid mobile of his to call his son either. It wouldn't be long until Hugo graduated, though from what he had last heard Hugo was no longer going to study alchemy.

"Yeah, I figured that or you would have got them to put my name in the article or something if you did." Hugo let out a heavy sigh that made the embers of the fire dance. "But a head's up of 'I'm gay now' would have been nice, you know?"

"What is it with people and labels?" Ron asked slowly as he ran his fingers through Harvey's coat. "I'm not gay. I just happen to be dating a man."

"Dating a man." Hugo repeated slowly. "That's… well, I'm glad you're back dating… I just… A Quidditch player, huh?"

Ron could tell that his son was trying, really trying, and he appreciated that, but it was too weird to actually sit down and start discussing details with the boy, especially when he wasn’t exactly sure of the details in the first place.

“Uh, yeah. A Quidditch player.” He wanted to go on about how Krum was so much more than being his sport, but he didn’t exactly know how to do that just yet, especially not when he was still trying to convince himself that this was all just casual. He was aware that his feelings towards Krum had surpassed what could be called ‘casual’ by the end of their first date, but he was choosing to ignore that for the time being. He wasn’t very good at controlling his emotions, however. Hugo had inherited that from him which was why the boy had very little filter - if he had a filter at all.

“I was actually kinda obsessed with him when I was a teenager.” Ron admitted before he could stop himself. “We saw him play when I was fourteen..” He trailed off as he realised just how long ago that was, especially considering the fact that his son was now older than he had been when he first had a crush on Krum. He didn’t want to fixate on just how much time had passed, but he couldn’t help it. That was just the sort of person that he was.

“So this isn’t a new thing?” Hugo asked slowly and it occurred to Ron just how weird it would be for him to hear any of this, almost the same weird that it would be for him to hear that either of his own parents admit that they too had known that they weren’t necessarily straight for such a long time.

“I - uh - no. No, this isn’t a new thing. But it’s not something that I’ve been entirely open about either.” Ron admitted, chewing on his lip for a moment. “Not because I was ashamed but because I didn’t really understand.” He paused for a moment. “I don’t think I even understand now, but I’ve kind of been forced out into the open with all of this. I hadn’t even talked to your mother about it yet.”

“I bet that went down well.” He heard Hugo laugh and that made Ron relax a little bit.

“She wasn’t best pleased, no. She dated Krum once too, you know. He took her to that stupid dance we had. I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous in my life.” He shook his head slightly, a smile on his lips at the fond memories.

“Mum’s ex?” Hugo asked, even through the flames Ron could see that he was lifting his eyebrow, something that amused him. “You and Uncle Harry sure know how to pick them, huh?”

“Oh, please don’t lump Krum in this with Malfoy.” He thought it was a testament to how much he had grown as a person when he didn’t gag upon using the Slytherin’s name, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a tone of disgust to his voice.

“He’s not that bad, you know.” Hugo pointed out, his tone far too matter of fact in a way that reminded Ron that he was in fact his mother’s child - oftentimes people had questioned whether Hugo was even related to Hermione. It wasn’t often that people got to see this side of Hugo, but in Ron’s opinion that was his loss.

“I can tolerate his son, considering how we’ve been at each other’s throats for almost our whole lives, I think that’s a vast improvement.” Ron told him. He had already promised himself to make an effort to try to tolerate Malfoy as well though, but he wasn’t ready to admit that to his children yet.

“Uh huh.” Hugo hummed before he shook his head slightly. “Right, Dad. I should go. It’s getting late and I’ve still got to help Sarah with her homework. I’ll write you, okay?”

Ron nodded, though he knew that he had more chance of Kreacher writing him a letter than of Hugo doing so, but he smiled anyway. “Speak soon. Night.” He said to his son before he ended the floo call.

He pulled himself up onto the sofa with a sigh and winced slightly as Harvey took this as the cue to jump up onto his lap. He certainly wasn’t as young as he used to be, which only made him admire his little sister all the more for getting back into Quidditch. She was only a year younger than him - though she was definitely a lot more fit despite having had two children. Ron let out a yawn as he fell back against the backrest and allowed his eyes to close. A nap before bed wasn’t going to hurt; he’d deal with his mother tomorrow.

Ron couldn’t remember ever knocking on the Burrow door before but that was exactly what he felt like he had to do today. He hadn’t heard from his mum or dad at all since they’d had dinner on Sunday which normally wasn’t that big of a deal, but Ron knew that there was no way that his mother, who loved gossip, hadn’t read the Daily Prophet. He was taking her silence as a bad sign; there was no way that it could be a good one, was there?

“Ronald.” His mother greeted him as she opened the door. She didn’t move aside or invite him in which made him even more anxious, but he knew that he deserved this, especially considering the fact that she had made a point of telling him why she had been so hurt by Percy keeping his own relationship a secret.

“Hello Mum.” He almost felt like a dog coming home with its tail between his legs.

“Read anything nice recently?” She asked, an eyebrow lifting slightly as she very obviously looked him up and down.

He’d come here straight after work so he knew that he looked a little dishevelled. Ji and Fred had been testing out some products and he’d been caught in the blow back a couple of times so he was all too aware that he was covered in a layer of dust that he had tried to get off his person but in the end had to give up on that.

He tried to shake off her words. He didn’t want to be hurt by her justified passive aggressive behaviour, but he’d never really been that good at taking the things that people said with a pinch of salt. Especially not from his mother whose opinion he valued that much more than anyone else’s in his life. She was the very glue that held the Wotter family together.

“I... No-one was meant to know, not yet.” Ron said with a small sigh. He didn’t know how he was meant to explain any of this without coming across as the bad guy. He just wanted her to understand the whys and hows of the decision that he had made, but he didn’t know how he was going to be able to do that when she wouldn’t even let him in the house.

“Don’t you think that we’ve had more than enough secrets in this family?” His mum asked.

Her gaze resembled a glare and made him want to fidget but he did his best to control that urge. He needed to at least appear calm even if he had no idea how he was meant to achieve this.

“It’s not a secret though.” He said quietly, glancing down for a moment before he met her eyes. “Would we be having this conversation if Krum were a woman?” He had to ask and it seemed to be enough to mentally make his mum take a step back. “I didn’t want to make a big deal about me seeing someone in the first place. You know how this family gets when we bring someone new into the fold and when you’re trying to figure out a new relationship, you really don’t want the added pressure of a family that’s as big and intense as ours on top of that. I know Krum knows Fleur and Bill, and Harry, but I’m still getting to know him as a person, and not just as the Quidditch player that I grew up idolising.” He paused for a moment to take a breath before he continued. “Does any of this make any sense?”

His mum stared at him for a moment before she slowly nodded. “I - yes. Yes, that makes sense.” She said quietly. “But you could still have told me, Ron.”

Ron shook his head slightly at that. “No, because if I did that then you would have insisted that I invite him over and we’re not there yet. We’ve been on exactly two dates so far - that’s it.” He told her as she finally let him inside and they headed towards the living room. “Two dates really isn’t many at all in the grand scheme of things.”

Molly nodded again and reached for his hand which she gave a squeeze. "No, I suppose not."

"It's not like I was hiding it like-" Ron began but he cut himself off. There was no need to drag his brother's name up, especially not when Percy and their mother had finally got back to a place where she wasn't cursing him or his daughter.

"I suppose not." She repeated as she let out a heavy sigh. She was silent for a moment which Ron decided not to fill. She needed time to process what he had said. Or at least that was what he hoped she was using the time for.

When she spoke again, her question somewhat surprised him. "When's your third date then?"

Ron blinked rapidly. "Oh. Um. Friday, I think. That's if he doesn't cancel after he reads the article or sees what a mess I look like beside him in the photo." He let out a low chuckle as he shook his head slightly. "He wants to cook for me."

Molly tilted her head slightly and Ron realised that she was probably considering just how much of an intimate setting that would be. He knew that the suggestion of going back to Krum's flat had taken him by surprise in the first instance.

"Food always has been the way to your heart." She commented softly.

Ron decided not to add that Hermione had never cooked for him; she had bought takeaways, not to mention the fact that she had worked hard all of her life and given him two beautiful children. He had never been cooked an intimate meal before so he was both excited and apprehensive about it.

"Some things will never change." He gave him mum a smile before he glanced towards the kitchen. "Which brings me to this question; whatcha making?" If he was lucky he would be able to steal some food off of her and he wouldn't have to cook himself anything. Hermione had said that she would be home late so she'd pick up something on her way home and he hated cooking for just one person. He'd never been any good at portion control - which he supposed was one of the reasons that he was sporting the 'dad bod' currently.

"There's soup?" His mum offered as she finally let go of his hand and stood up. Ron watched her shuffle off in the direction of the kitchen before he followed. He saw himself as a good cook, but no food had ever compared to what his mum made, not even the feasts at Hogwarts. For this reason he was pretty grateful that he and Hermione had built their house so close to the Burrow, that and it meant that his kids got plenty of time with their devoted grandparents.

"Soup sounds great." Ron nodded as he went to make them both a cup of tea, with the extra spoonful of sugar that he knew wasn't particularly good for either of them but at the same time he knew that they could both do with a little pick-me-up.

He pressed a kiss to his mum's cheek as he set her tea on the counter beside her before he sat down at the kitchen table. He was lucky to have her and he knew that. She was doing her best at trying to navigate her way through a world where everything was constantly changing. All her children had grown up, and now her grandchildren were all growing up and starting to make their way out into the world as well. She was taking everything in her stride and honestly Ron thought that she was handling thing much better than he would have had their roles been reversed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron goes to Krum's flat for their third date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rating has been upped from a T to an M from those chapter onwards. 
> 
> Thanks to SethWren for betaing.

“I am sorry that we were seen,” Krum said quietly over dinner, broaching the subject that they had both been avoiding since Ron had arrived at his flat that evening. 

Ron knew that he’d been a little on edge, but he’d thought that he had done a good job of hiding it from Krum. He knew that they needed to speak about it but he had actually sort of coming to terms with the newspaper article by this point. He couldn’t explain the whys or the hows or anything like that, just that now that he’d spoken to the people that mattered the most, being publicly outed like that didn’t seem as much of a big deal.

He shook his head at Krum’s words. “No, don’t be sorry. Please.” He attempted to give the older man a smile as he met his gaze. “It’s fine, honestly. Mum, Hermione, the kids… they’re hurt that I didn’t tell them myself, but I think they understand why now.”

Krum gave a short nod, though he did appear to be troubled by something. “Why did you not tell them?”

The question caught Ron off guard, but he knew that he had to explain himself to Krum now in order to make sure that he understood that it was not because he was ashamed. He took a breath before he could make himself speak, his eyes flickering to his plate for a moment as he straightened his thoughts out.

“I wanted to be sure that we were something to tell them about. I feel like there is, but two dates isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things. Not when I was with the same person for over twenty years. But this does feel like it’s more than anything I ever had with anyone else.” He told Krum with a small smile, avoiding actually using Hermione’s name again. Mentioning his ex once while on a date was more than enough. “Not to mention, you know what my family is like. They’ll be inviting you to all our family events now that they know that you and I are dating, and I wanted you all to myself for a while first.”

Krum let out a low chuckle as he reached across the table for Ron’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “You have me all to yourself.” He assured him, his very words causing Ron’s heart to skip a beat.

He wanted to ask there and then if that meant that they were boyfriends now, but at the same time, that term felt so juvenile. They were adults, after all. Men, not boys. So he didn't ask for Krum to put a label of their relationship. Instead, he just squeezed the man's hand back before turning his attention back to his dinner. Krum had made them chicken, broccoli and rice and although that sounded like a simple meal, Ron was pretty sure that this was what heaven tasted off. He knew that there was a chance that it only tasted so delicious because Krum had cooked it and Ron was in love with pretty much everything that the former Quidditch player did, but Ron also knew that he was pretty particular about his chicken. It was often pretty hard for him to eat chicken anywhere but at his mother's house. No-one had ever been able to get it as melt-in-the-mouth perfect as her since his Hogwarts days. Krum's chicken, however, was pretty damn close.

"How did your children take the news?" Krum asked, breaking Ron's internal monologue with what felt like a short rap.

"Oh. Um. Pretty well, yeah. Thanks." Ron didn't know why the question made him suddenly turn formal but he found that it was an involuntary twitch. "I'm not sure it's properly sunk in for them, but they're always supportive."

"I will have to invite them for dinner one day," Krum commented; a gentle smile still in place on his face, one that Ron knew he was hoping would help Ron to relax again.

Ron nodded slightly. "Yeah, that might not be possible for a while as Hugo's decided to go on some yoga retreat in Bali."

Krum very obviously lifted an eyebrow in a way that made Ron laugh despite himself. "Yoga?"

"Uh. Yeah. It's a muggle thing?" Ron didn't really know how to explain the thing that he had never really understood. All he really knew was that it made Hugo happy. "It's all to do with poses and energies and the earth."

"I think I am familiar with it." Krum hummed, though he still looked confused about it all, though Ron couldn't blame him considering that his explanation hadn’t exactly cleared anything up.

"He was going to study alchemy, not that that makes any more sense to me." Ron chuckled before he finished off his rice.

“Me neither.” Krum laughed lightly and Ron had to wonder if alchemy was even something that they taught at Durmstrang. Considering all of the dark practices that could come out of it, Ron had a feeling that it was right up their alley, but he was very careful not to mention this or really even think about it for too long. They definitely weren’t at that point in their relationship where he could discuss how different their educations were. He just let himself mull over the fact that despite Dark Arts (as opposed to Defense Against The Dark Arts) being a bonafide subject, Krum had turned out to be a decent human being.

“Dessert?” Krum asked after they had both cleared their plates, taking Ron’s from him and dropping them into the small sink in the kitchen. Krum’s London flat was a lot smaller than Ron had expected, but he supposed it made sense. Krum lived alone and it wasn’t as if he spent all of his time over here either. He was sure that his home back in Bulgaria was a lot bigger - and probably more furnished than this one.

“There’s dessert?” Ron couldn’t help but grin. His mother was right, the best way to his heart was most certainly through his stomach.

“Of course there’s dessert. What sort of a host would I be if I didn’t have dessert on offer?” Krum mirrored Ron’s grin which made the redhead’s ears turn pink. “It’s a Bulgarian specialityy but I think you will enjoy it.”

Ron decided not to mention the fact that he was never going to say no to food and instead went with “Well, I look forward to trying it then.”

Krum pressed a kiss to his cheek before he turned to the oven and took out what appeared to be a pie. It smelled amazing, though Ron couldn’t seem to pinpoint what exactly it was. It reminded him of autumn, or more specifically, it reminded him of Halloween. He quite obviously let himself breathe it in.

“You’ve got quite the number of hidden talents, huh?” Ron mused as Krum served up the pie.

"You could say that." Krum smiled. "This is tikvenik. It's like pumpkin pie but…" He trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his hands before he sat down opposite him again.

"But more Bulgarian?" Ron suggested with a light chuckle. The name wasn't even something that Ron was going to attempt to pronounce. He was probably the most British man that he had ever met and he was utterly hopeless at pronouncing words from any other language than English, even Fleur's name gave him trouble if he wasn't concentrating and he'd known her for almost thirty years now. He paused at that thought. Was it really possible that they were  _ that _ old? He shuddered despite himself.

"It is not to your taste?" Krum asked, frowning a little. Ron only then realised that he was paused with his fork midway to his mouth.

Ron quickly took a bite of the pie and closed his eyes with a contented hum as he found that it was more to his taste than he could have imagined. "Krum, this is perfection, and I honestly didn't think that I could taste anything better than your chicken."

"Not even me?" Krum asked and Ron's eyes widened as he stared at him. He was glad that he had swallowed before Krum had spoken or else he was pretty sure that he would be wearing the pie by now.

"I - I -" He stuttered out, which only made Krum grin so widely Ron was sure that his face would split open if he so much as move in the wrong direction. He realised much too late, when his face was completely flushed red, that Krum was, in fact, teasing him.

"I am glad you like the tikvenik." He smiled as he tucked into his own slice, leaving Ron to collect his thoughts and settle his mind back down.

When dessert was over, Ron found that he didn't want to leave the flat. He didn't really want to go home to his house, though he knew that Harvey would be missing him if Hermione hadn't allowed for the dog to curl up in her bed with her - something that he knew was likely, but he wasn't sure that he should risk it. That could have been the nerves talking for all Ron knew though. He'd never really been alone with another adult other than Hermione like this for such a long time and now that dinner was over, there was nothing left for them to do but to enjoy each other's company.

This was something that Ron had been looking forward to, but that didn't mean that he didn't find it difficult just to let himself relax as they moved from the small kitchen to the living room after the two of them had washed and dried the dishes.

Krum had asked Ron if he wanted to see some old photos from 'back in the day' and Ron couldn't find it in himself to say no. He loved nostalgia; other than food it was one of his biggest vices and the thought of looking back on photos of Krum from when he’d first had a crush on the man was a very exciting prospect. He didn’t know if that made him weird though so he tried to control his excitement as Krum flicked through the pages of the photo album while they kneeled on the floor beside the low coffee table.

Ron couldn’t help but smile to himself as Krum’s hand slipped into his own and their fingers entwined. It was such a small gesture, but it meant the world to Ron who was quick to note that he was getting sappy in his old age. That wasn’t a bad thing at all, but it definitely wasn’t something that he had expected, not when he hadn’t ever really been this sentimental with Hermione.

“I’m not just saying this because we’re on a date, but you really are one of my favourite Quidditch players,” Ron told Krum with a soft sort of smile as he found that his eyes wandered from the photos on the page to Krum’s dark eyes. He didn’t need the pictures when he had the real thing, after all.

“Just one of?” Krum asked an eyebrow lifting in a teasing way that made Ron’s stomach squirm. One of these days he would figure out just what it was about Krum that made him so very weak at the knees, but today was not that day.

“Well, yeah. I think you’re tied with Ginny.” He pointed out with a laugh which Krum caught with a swift kiss, his arms wrapping around Ron and pulling him close.

Ron wrapped his arms around Krum and allowed the man to pull him onto him, letting the moment - and Krum - take control of him. One of Krum’s hands moved to his cheek, his hand flat but his thumb moving gently over Ron’s skin. He could practically taste his heartbeat, but he didn’t find that he cared. His only focus just then was the fact that Viktor Krum was snogging him.

Slowly, he managed to move, without breaking the kiss, so that he was a little more balanced, his knees either side of the older man’s legs. Their chests were pressed up against each other and Ron could feel Krum’s heart which was racing almost as fast as his own was. He slid one hand under Krum’s shirt so that he could better feel.

Eventually, they had to break apart so that they could both breathe. Ron tried not to be overly dramatic as he gasped for breath, but that was almost exactly what he was doing. Krum had literally taken his breath away. He swallowed thickly as he managed to get a handle on himself again and let his eyes meet Krum’s once again.

The older man was watching him, a smile that Ron didn’t think that he’d ever seen from anyone before was sitting there firmly on his features. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

Ron’s eyes widened before he could even attempt to find the words to reply. He didn’t think that he had ever been called beautiful by anyone in his entire life. He didn’t know how to respond to that except to press his lips to Krum’s again, this time gently pushing him back onto the floor and letting his fingers undo the buttons on his shirt. Actions spoke louder than words, right?

Krum let him take the lead this time, something unprecedented, but Ron wasn’t going to complain about it either as he managed to open Krum’s shirt. He broke the kiss so that he could stare down at the man’s chiselled chest. It both amazed him and confused him. Krum was in such good shape, and yet somehow he thought that  _ Ron _ was beautiful. It made no sense to him. He tried not to dwell on it too much as he leaned down to press gentle kisses along with the man’s abs.

Fortunately, the softness of Krum’s skin was enough to stop him from obsessing over the fact that this was the first time that he had ever kissed a man like this. The soft noise that Krum made helped too, his back arching ever-so-slightly underneath Ron who just let his lips move over Krum’s chest and stomach, travelling lower.

There was a dull thud as Krum rolled them over without any warning. Ron was aware that the thud was probably his own body making contact with something, but he couldn’t make himself care as Krum’s lips were now on his neck. His eyes closed as Krum kissed over his jaw and then down towards his collarbone as he started to undo Ron’s own shirt.

Everything else from that moment on was a blur to Ron, lust taking over and their bodies merging together as clothes were strewn across the floor of the flat. It might not have been exactly where Ron had envisioned this date going, but that didn’t mean that he was going to complain - not at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron and Krum enjoy breakfast together before Krum confesses something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry for the hiatus. I got caught up in fests, challenges, and events. I still love this fic and it has honestly been so hard not having time to work on it. But we're back! And I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Somehow they had made it off of Krum's living room floor and into his bed, though Ron wasn't sure when that was, all he knew was that was where he woke up, where he was using the Bulgarian as a pillow - and a very comfortable pillow at that which he hadn't been expecting at all, not with all those abs. He let himself lie there for a while, just listening to the sounds of Krum breathing and completely ignoring the fact that it was light outside and that meant that he should probably be getting up to go to work.

Part of him wanted to call in sick, but that was the downside of having your best friend as your boss; it was virtually impossible to pull the wool over his eyes, which Ron thought was ironic considering just how oblivious Harry had proved to be over the last thirty years.

He'd already decided to be late when Krum started to stir. He'd make up the time later and Harry would just have to lump it. He deserved that little slice of happiness and he was going to hold onto it with all of his might.

"Morning." He hummed as he moved to press a kiss to the side of Krum's head. A voice in the back of his own head was pointing out that he was maybe a little too complacent, that Krum had maybe wanted him to leave in the night, but he tried to squash it down. Krum was the sort of person that would have outright said it, or at least that was what Ron was now telling himself.

Krum's fingers ran over Ron's back as his hand moved lazily up to prop up his head. "Good morning." He said with a soft smile that chased almost all of Ron's anxieties away. No-one that smiled at him like that would want him to leave, right?

Ron had to bite back the cliché comment of 'last night was magical', even though it was true. Last night had been something that he had never experienced before, not just in the physical sense - he had never been with a man before - but in the sense that he felt that he had connected with Krum on an emotional level that he hadn't even realised existed before. He was a living cliché, but he honestly didn't care.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Krum asked after a few moments during which Ron had found that the older man had ended up practically staring into his soul when their eyes had connected.

"Breakfast, especially tea if you have any, sounds like a great idea." Ron nodded slightly, though he was reluctant to actually get out of the bed. He was comfortable and he was happy.

"I think I can find you something." Krum nodded before he pressed a kiss to Ron's nose and wriggled out of bed.

Ron couldn't help but watch the man as he got up and the sheets fell away. He truly was beautiful and certainly put Ron's dad bod to shame, so he waited until Krum had pulled some boxers and a shirt on and headed through to the kitchen before he dared to move. Krum might have called him beautiful the night before, but that was before he had seen him naked, much less naked in the daylight.

He found some his clothes, aka his boxers and socks, realising quickly that his shirt and jeans must still be in the living room, but he pulled on the clothes that he could and headed on through, though he didn't make it to the rest of his clothes without receiving a kiss on his cheek from Krum first. He couldn't help but be surprised at how soft and gentle Krum was being, not because he had expected anything else from the other man, per se, but because he and Hermione had never been this affectionate towards each other. When it had come to sex between them, it had been - for lack of better phrasing - rough and raw. There had always been something lacking from it and while Ron had reminded himself daily that he did love her with all his heart, he supposed that was where the problems had started. Everyone expected them to be together, to stay together, but no-one had bothered to ask them if there was actually an emotional connection between them.

He wasn't trying to say that he had more of an emotional connection with Krum, especially because before the Quidditch match, the last time he had seen the man was probably at his niece's funeral and that had been quite a few years ago now. But at the same time, he did feel some sort of connection to the man that he couldn't have explained if he had tried.

"Banitsa?" Krum asked as Ron finally made his way into the kitchen, now fully dressed and aware that he was either going to have to attempt to freshen up his clothes with magic or pop home on his way to work.

"Banitsa?" He repeated an eyebrow lifted slightly as he watched as Krum finished steeping the tea.

"Pastry." Krum gestured towards a plate on the table. "Mamo made them. Sweet, you will like them." He added as he handed Ron his cup of tea and took a seat at the table.

Ron stood there slightly awkward for a moment before he eventually took a seat across from Krum. Sometimes it was hard to get his body to cooperate with his brain when he was in the Bulgarian's presence.

"Thanks." He said with a soft smile as he looked up at Krum, trying his hardest not to stare at him but knowing that was pretty much a given. He just couldn't get over what had transpired the night before and the fact that he was still in Krum's flat.

Krum gave him a mirroring smile before he tucked into his own pastry, letting a comfortable silence fall between them as they drank their tea and ate. Ron knew he needed to bring up the fact that he needed to leave soon, but the longer he left it, the more it felt as if it was an excuse to leave, even if leaving was the very last thing that he wanted to do.

It was Krum who spoke first, beating Ron to the punch so to speak though. "I have to return to Bulgaria for a while." His voice was quiet as if he didn't want to have to tell Ron this he didn't want to have to go back, but that didn't mean that it didn't feel like Ron had been punched in the gut. Three dates and that was it? Was Krum really going to leave him? "I've been asked to coach the team some more."

Ron gave a small nod, there wasn't really much else that he could do. He couldn't exactly beg Krum to stay here, not when he had a duty to his team and to his country to do. And yet Ron still wanted to beg him to stay and it made him even more reluctant to leave his flat in the first place.

"When do you go?" He asked slowly as he managed to catch his breath - Krum had managed to take his breath away before but never like that.

"Tomorrow. They would like me to be there tomorrow."

Ron swallowed thickly. "Then I guess…" He trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with that sentence, to begin with. His chest hurt far more than he was willing to admit.

"There are only a few more games to go this season and then I shall be back." Krum's promise felt empty, though Ron was sure that that was just his own anxiety talking. He couldn't make himself believe the words of others no matter how much he wanted to, and that wasn't at all Krum's fault. He knew that he had some abandonment issues that he needed to work through.

"Good luck with your trip." He said in the end and he pretended to check his watch, though he couldn't even really see the watch, let alone what it said as his eyes were starting to blur. He didn't know whether this was because his overly dramatic brain had decided that he needed to cry like the teenage girl that he was clearly turning into or if it was just simply the early signs of a headache. "I better get going." He said as he pushed himself to his feet. He still needed to pop home to change before he went to work after all and he was very much late.

"Can I see you again tonight?" Krum asked as he too stood up, his eyes fixed on Ron's face in a way that told the red-head that he was looking to see if he had done something wrong.

Ron wanted to reassure him, to tell him that everything was fine, but the words just wouldn't come so instead he found himself nodding in answer to Krum's question, though it wasn't until he had already agreed to the fourth date that he had even realised what had been said. He supposed that he should count it as a good sign that Krum wanted to see him again.

"I'll come by after work?" He asked as he made to put his jacket on. He was hoping that by tonight he would have managed to sort his head out and he would be feeling a bit less like this was the end of the world. It was a ridiculous feeling but he just couldn't help it.

"That would be nice." Krum agreed and he moved to press a kiss to Ron's cheek. Ron was glad to have the kiss to ground him just then and he caught Krum's lips with his own, kissing him softly before he apparated home.

Ron had considered cancelling his date with Krum several times during his working day. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the man, it was that he didn't want to have to say goodbye. Ron was not at all good with goodbyes, and that was why he found himself procrastinating on getting ready to head over to the flat by walking and then bathing Harvey - the good old-fashioned Muggle way. Apparently, this was enough to sound alarm bells in Hermione's head as she was now stood next to him, with an eyebrow slightly raised.

Ron did his best to ignore her, to begin with, but she didn't seem to take the hint at all and didn't budge from his line of vision either so when Harvey had finally stopped squealing and squirming, he finally looked up at his ex.

"Yes?" He asked, trying to sound unphased by the way that she seemed to think that it was appropriate for her to be stood so close to him, but it just came out like a sort of croak.

"Everything okay?" She asked the question that she had clearly been dying to ever since she had walked into the kitchen that evening. Ron was at least glad that she hadn't bothered to comment on the fact that he was using the kitchen sink to bathe his dog, but then it wasn't as if Hermione did any cooking to even complain if he did end up making a mess.

With a sigh, Ron turned his attention back to his dog. "Krum's leaving." His voice was a lot smaller than he would have liked it to be, but Hermione had seen him at all stages of his supposed limited emotional range. This was nothing compared to how he had been during those first few months after the war when they had all been grieving, and he wasn't going to start being ashamed of his emotions now, even if it did feel like he was being ridiculous just now. Krum wasn't leaving him forever, after all, or at least that wasn't part of the plan. It just hurt because they had only just started seeing each other.

"I see." Hermione sounded far too reserved, reminding Ron of some imaginary line that he had probably crossed while talking about his new boyfriend with his ex-partner. "Where's he going?"

"Back to Bulgaria, he got a job opportunity that he just couldn't turn down." Ron said quietly before he lifted Harvey out of the sink and reached for his wand to dry them both off before the puppy could get a chance to shake himself all over the room.

"Oh." When he glanced over at Hermione she looked as awkward as she sounded and a pang of guilt appeared in his gut.

"Yeah." He said quietly before he gave a slight shake of his head and let Harvey go, watching as the dog high-tailed it out of the room and up the stairs, probably to rub himself all over Ron's bed. "Listen, it's fine. You don't need to be the one to reassure me that it's all going to be okay or whatever so don't feel like you need to. It's fine, I'm fine. Krum is an adult and he can do whatever he needs to do without my say-so."

"It's not that I don't want to, Ron. I do. But I'm still adjusting to the fact that two of my exes are now dating."

Ron gave a short laugh at that. "You sure know how to make a situation less awkward, huh?" He teased before he pressed a kiss to her cheek and moved past her to grab himself a glass from the cupboard. More procrastination, but Krum wouldn't know that he was avoiding the inevitable goodbye.

Hermione gave him a smile, her arms crossing across her chest as she leaned against the table. "I do try." She hummed before she asked "when does he leave?"

"Tomorrow." Ron said with another sigh as he filled his glass with water. "And before you ask what I'm still doing here - avoiding having him leave me. Yes, I know the logic is flawed but it's all I've got."

"Ron…" Hermione's voice was soft, almost condescending, but they both knew that there wasn't anything that she could tell him that he didn't already know so she seemed to trail off and leave him to wallow in his self-pity while he drank down the water.

They were both silent for a little while, Ron gathering his thoughts and Hermione watching him while he washed out his glass in the sink that he had cleaned up before she had the chance to see how dirty Harvey had made it. There wasn't anything else that he could do to put off going around to Krum's now though.

"Right." He said as he stretched his arms above his head in an attempt to get himself moving. If he had to psych himself up to do it then so be it. At the end of the day, all he was doing was hurting himself and wasting what precious little time he had left with the man he had fallen head over heels for.

One last job to procrastinate going was to make sure that he had an overnight bag to take with him this time. While last night had been great, it was completely out of Ron's comfort zone to spend any amount of time away from home and this time he decided that he would like to be at least a little prepared. He also had no idea what to wear. It wasn't exactly a date, after all, but he still wanted to look nice for Krum. He ended up throwing on a pair of jeans and one of the jumpers his mum had knitted for a past Christmas, deciding that comfort needed to take precedence tonight.

He ruffled Harvey's ears, though the dog was barely even responding to him now. He supposed that he hadn't appreciated the bath, but he had been drinking so Ron's bed sheets were bound to appreciate it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, bub." He said softly before he made himself head downstairs, making himself take deep, slow breaths. He called to Hermione to let her know that he was heading out, just so that she would know that she was going to be alone, not because he felt like he owed her anything.


End file.
